Primarily a collection of news links about all 10 Horizon League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.

8. Ray McCallum, No. 36, Kings: Sacramento has a knack for finding undersized scoring guards. Two years after uncovering Isaiah Thomas with the final pick of the draft, the Kings found McCallum early in the second round. He showed an ability to get to the rim and finish throughout the Kings' schedule, a rare combination in Las Vegas. He's still learning how to be a point guard and was prone to some pick-and-roll coverages that forced him baseline and took his scoring out of the equation, though.

8. Detroit: Ray McCallum Jr. turned down offers from powerhouse programs to play for his father, Ray McCallum Sr. With McCallum at point guard, Detroit reached the NCAA tournament in 2012 after the Titans won the Horizon League tournament. But he’s gone now. And he’s not the only key player that Detroit will miss. The Titans have lost their top four scorers from last season. Somehow, Detroit must find respectable offensive contributors who can make up for the loss of McCallum (18.7 PPG), Nick Minnerath (14.6 PPG), Jason Calliste (14.4 PPG) and Doug Anderson (12.1 PPG). McCallum could face his toughest season as a head coach in 2013-14.

Second-round picks have a lot at stake in summer league, but the 6-2 McCallum — selected by Sacramento with the 36th pick — played well enough in Vegas to secure a three-year deal on site. The primary selling point was McCallum’s driving ability. Few guards available at McCallum’s price bring the same level of athleticism and control. He seems to have the quickness necessary to break down the first line of defense at an NBA level. From there, he displayed an ability to change direction, finish with both hands and connect on floaters and acrobatic layups. He can convert on a variety of attempts around the basket, making him a somewhat reluctant passer, but that could soon change as he plays with more talented shooters and big men in the NBA.

Also impressive was the way McCallum navigated the casual style of summer league, which involves few set plays and even fewer well-executed ones. Without much structure, many primary ball handlers tend to simply call for the ball and wait on the perimeter when they aren’t in control. McCallum, on the other hand, made some nice cuts and set screens for his teammates — minor actions in the grand scheme of things, but decisions indicative of sound basketball logic. It’s early, but McCallum — who had a 23-point performance in Vegas as well as a 12-point, 11-assist outing — looks like a nice pick-up for the Kings on a cheap, three-year deal.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Sacramento Kings
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Nick Minnerath: A recovering drug addict laces up his $15 dollar basketball shoes and drives 800 miles to attend a junior college open gym in the hopes that he’ll impress the coaches and get his basketball career and life back on track. You won’t hear many redemption stories like Nick Minnerath’s.

Ray McCallum: Minnerath’s college teammate at the University of Detroit always displayed great athleticism and the ability to finish at the rim, but his shooting stroke was a little spotty. If McCallum can consistently knock down jumpers, he’ll be trouble at the next level.

Perhaps the greatest gain by Clark during his five appearances in Orlando was showing an ability to play at point guard, a position where the Heat have only Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole under contract.

Valpo's home is another case where it's not the building, it's the fans. The Brown and Gold continue to show up to make the ARC one of the nation's most loud and hostile venues. Horizon League teams cringe every year when they see a road trip to face the Crusaders pop up on their schedule.

4. Bryce Drew, Valparaiso
Record: 48-20, 0-1 NCAA Tournament
Age: 39
The most famous basketball player in Valpo history has turned out to be a pretty good coach. The son of longtime Crusaders coach Homer Drew took over his father’s program two seasons ago and brought Valpo back to the postseason contention with back-to-back Horizon League regular-season titles. The NCAA bid in 2013 was Valpo’s first since 2004, and the 26 wins were a school record.

Alec Brown, Wisconsin-Green Bay: It was a tumultuous offseason in Green Bay as the Phoenix narrowly avoided another Rutgers/Mike Rice situation. Senior big man Alec Brown should be able to give the Horizon League school some stability. The 7'1 Minnesota native is coming off a season in which he averaged 14 points and 6 rebounds per game. Brown's scoring numbers have gone up each year but his rebounding numbers dropped a bit this past season. If Brown wants to take his talents to the next level he'll need to hit the boards hard once again in his senior year.
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Corey Petros, Oakland: The junior big man should make the Golden Grizzlies maiden voyage into the Horizon Leauge a little easier. Petros lead the team in field goal percentage last year at 56.5% and added nearly 13 points and 8 rebounds per game. If Greg Kampe squad has immediate success in their new conference then a large part of it will be because of Petros.

It was Christmas in Sacramento when Ben McLemore fell to the Kings at No. 7. I'll say it again: McLemore is as close to a surefire All-Star as I have seen. He coasts sometimes, but Joe Johnson had a similar reputation when he came out of Arkansas in 2001. That seemed to work out OK, didn't it? Ray McCallum at No. 36 was a nice pick, too. He was one of the most talked-about players at the combine last month.